


Kaidan Alenko Appreciation Week 2015

by Emma_Trevelyan



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: AU, Angst, Babies, Dom!Kaidan, Domesticity, F/M, Family, Fluff, Garrus & Tali implied, More tags to be added, Rough Sex, Spanking, crying kaidan, manbun kaidan, mars attack, tali/garrus - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 07:19:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5447978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emma_Trevelyan/pseuds/Emma_Trevelyan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My contributions of Shenko Appreciation Week</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1: First Encounter

The first time she encountered his dominant side, it was a total accident. They were deep in the throes of passion, his hips snapping erratically against hers. They were less kissing and more panting into one another’s mouths. She curled her fingers up his shoulders and dragged her nails down his back. He froze, and she almost felt herself grow cold. Did she hurt him? Did she _completely_ kill the mood? Before she could say anything, his long fingers curled into her hair and pulled. _Hard._

Suddenly, he was pounding into her, curling his hips in just _that_ way that made her see stars. The sharp pinpoint of pain grounded her and made her fly all at the same time. It was… she didn’t know what it was, but when she clenched around him and had to bite into her pillow to muffle her ecstatic screams. He slid his free hand up her chest, between her breasts and cupped around her throat, putting _just_ enough pressure to give the illusion of danger.

No orgasm had ever been more intense.

Afterward, she was nestled into his chest, trying desperately to get a hold on her breathing. His heart was pounding under her ear, but he seemed so languid… so content.

“That was,” she began, curling her arm around his trim waist.

“I’m sorry about that, Alex,” he sighed into her hair, pressing soft kisses against her temple. “I just…”

“No, Kaidan,” she laced her fingers through his, squeezing gently. “I… I liked it.”

“Really?” He quirked a dark brow at her, his eyes sparkling with a hungry light.

“Yeah,” she sighed, relaxing against him. “I don’t know why, but… it was _amazing._ ”

“What was it?” he asked softly and frankly, like they were debriefing after a mission. Although, when they debriefed, he didn’t run a gentle if insistent finger down her spine that sent shivers to all the right places.

“Well,” she averted her eyes, biting her lip. Part of it had been the power, being at his mercy. Part of it had been the intensity with which he’d moved within her. But mostly… “I think it might have been the pain.”

“What?”

“Well, that and the control and passion. I’ve never seen you like that before, Kaidan. But… that sharp little pinpoint of pain it… I liked it.”

He smirked darkly at her, tugging her up to meet him, pressing an insistent kiss that threatened to steal her very breath; “Is that something you’d be willing to… explore?”

~~~

It was less than a week later they were on their scheduled shore leave. The _Normandy_ was a small ship, after all. She stood naked before him, the soft lighting of the hotel room failing to conceal the excited flush of her skin. She had to admit, trousers and a white button-down was a good look on him. But what really excited her the most… that had to be the dark, hungry look in his eyes.

He skimmed his rough hands over her hips, up her ribs and settled on her shoulders. He looked her in the eyes, heat flaring through her core; “You’re new to this, so there won’t be a safety word. You say ‘stop’ and I stop. Clear?”

She nodded, sucking her lower lip between her teeth. Kaidan let out a sound—a guttural snarl, full of delicious, hot, primal possession—and gripped her chin.

“Answer me out loud, Shepard,” he growled.

“Yes,” she sighed, reveling in the shiver that ran through her body.

“Yes, sir,” he commanded, cupping her jaw in his other hand. He skimmed his thumb over her lower lip, teasing her. Testing her.

“Yes, sir,” she repeated, feeling the heat flush across her chest and hips. She felt like a glowing, red beacon, and the space between her legs throbbed with anticipation.

“Good girl,” he sighed, rewarding her with a heated kiss. “Go kneel on the bed. Face the wall. Hands on the headboard.”

“Yes, sir.” She turned to comply. She felt a slide of… something in the back of her mind. It was sudden—all fear, all need for control, slipped away. It almost felt like an instinct. All she wanted was to please her sir, and receive the pleasure he promised. Should she obey.

It was wonderful.

He didn’t touch her immediately, be he’d asked her to remain still. She could feel her heartbeat bruise against her ribs; sweat broke out all over her pale skin, and it was like her senses were in overdrive. The familiar rush of adrenalin keyed her into the soft sounds of his feet against the carpet, the rustle of the duvet as she shifted against it, the creak of the headboard as she settled her weight. She near jumped out of her skin when he brushed his hand across her hip.

“Baby, you have to relax,” he sighed against her shoulder, peppering her with kisses. It was at once a command, an admonition, and a reassurance. She felt a thrum deep in her core; heat flushed through her body; tiny shocks of pleasure sparked from the soft kisses.

“I’m ok,” she replied softly. She relaxed her hands, and she did what she did best. She focused. “Please, sir. Continue.”

She could feel his smile against her skin as his hand moved from her hip over her ass. She pulled in a sharp breath and let out a squeak of surprise when his palm came down on her in a sharp _crack._ “How do you want it, Shepard?” he asked, his breath ghosting over her neck. She felt his teeth glide over the junction of her neck and shoulder.

She shuddered beneath him, feeling the hot rush between her legs, whimpering… _aching_ for him; “Make it hurt, sir.”

She heard him draw in a serrated breath; she could feel his insistent arousal in the desperation of his hands. His nails brushed down her back before he roughly guided her hips into place. And then, all of a sudden and all at once, he was no longer touching her. She suppressed the protesting groan when she heard the subtle _clink_ of his belt being undone.

“What do you tell me when it’s too much, Shepard?” he asked; she arched harshly, hissing through her teeth in anticipation, when she heard his belt crack.

“I tell you to stop,” she answered, her voice a jagged moan.

“Good girl.”

There was barely a breath between his words and the sharp sting of the belt across her ass. He must have had the buckle in his hands, because she only felt the supple leather curl around her hip in and dig into the soft flesh. She whimpered and wriggled under the harsh touch, feeling the sting fade to a hot ache; an ache that settled in her cunt and wouldn’t dissipate. There was a second crack. She let out a long, low groan; the smart was a beautiful counterpoint to the sudden bevy of sensation. She felt like her whole body was on fire—she was hyperaware of everything around her, even to the point she could hear the subtle _whoosh_ of the belt before it cracked over her a third time.

He was unrelenting, and _so_ strong. Over and over, the strap came down on her, never in the same place twice, and she lost track of time. With every vicious slap, she descended further. She wailed in pleasure, literally howling at the frustrating lack of friction between her legs. When she tried to rub her thighs together, she felt the belt snap painfully around the supple flesh. She spread them without being asked, and was rewarded with another fierce strike.

 _“_ You should see how wet you are, Shepard,” he growled, his hand slithering up the inside of her thigh. “You like this, don’t you, darling?”

“Y-y-yes sir,” she whimpered, leaning heavily into the headboard. Her thighs shook with the effort of keeping her upright, and her ass felt like it was glowing. The pain was bone-deep, and the ache in her cunt was too much. She clenched around nothing, silently begging him to fill her.

“You’ve been so good,” he murmured, sliding his hand under her, supporting her weight on her chest. She heard the rustle of his zipper, a quiet whisper of fabric, and then she could _feel_ the heat of his body against her. He didn’t touch her, but she _knew_ that long, thick cock strained away from him. Hot and heavy. He rubbed over her sopping entrance with the head. “Should I put this in you, darling? Have you earned it?”

“Please, sir,” she begged, resisting the urge to wriggle against him. She barely recognized her own voice, the high-pitched keening ripping through her as she gave into her desire.

“Since you asked so nicely.”

With a quick movement, he flipped her to her back, supporting her hips. Her sore ass brushed against the duvet, and even that was enough to send pins-and-needles through her whole body, finally settling deep in her clenching sheath. He opened her, pulling one long leg over his broad shoulders, before he hilted her in a single, violent thrust. He pounded into her with reckless abandon, taking total control. She clenched around him, sobbing in delight, as she felt her orgasm build. She could feel tears gather in her eyes and stream down her enflamed face as she thrashed beneath him, desperate to meet his every thrust, hungry to take him deeper.

He moved his thumb over her clit, but didn’t move it. It didn’t take long before she felt the familiar touch of his biotic field, and she came undone. The peak was too close, it was too intense. She teetered at the edge for too long, her cunt clenching tighter than a vice.

“Come for me, Alex,” he sighed, turning his head to kiss her ankle.

As if by command, the simple request sent her plummeting. Her whole world narrowed to a pinpoint of pleasure before exploding in white-hot sensation. Her whole body tightened up like a bow; she clenched the sheets so hard had she been in her right mind she would have feared ripping them. She thrashed beneath him, feeling the soft gush of fluid spill around him. His rhythm became erratic, and she couldn’t take much more. Thankfully, not long after she went limp in his arms, he shot into her with a breathless, falsetto cry.

For a long time, they lay collapsed into each other, desperately trying to catch their breath. She whined when her red-hot ass moved against the duvet, which despite being covered in satin felt like sandpaper. Kaidan quickly shed his clothes and returned from the bathroom with a bottle of water and a bottle of aloe.

“Hey, roll over,” he said, though it wasn’t a command.

His touch was so gentle and his hands were everywhere; there was never a time when she wasn’t touching a part of him. When he was done, he gathered her into his arms, pressing affectionate kisses to her neck and shoulder.

“How do you feel?” he asked softly, running his knuckles over the curve of her waist.

“Amazing,” she answered, feeling the pull of exhaustion.

“Well, then,” he leaned into a long, slow, languid kiss. While the previous ones had been full of heat and promise, this was soothing and calming. She felt like she could kiss him like this all night. “We’ll have to try it again sometime.”

~~~

For about three days after, Shepard had trouble sitting. She always let out a soft hiss when she sat, or stood if she could. And every goddamn time, Kaidan gave her this knowing look, full of glittering warmth. For the first time in their short relationship, she feared being unable to keep up with him. 


	2. Day 2: Why Don't You Break My Heart?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short AU drabble: What if Shepard got attacked on Mars instead of Kaidan?

He wasn’t fast enough.

He didn’t have enough time.

That damn scientist came bursting out of the flames like some demon; she grabbed Shepard by the helmet and shook her experimentally. The whole situation seemed so unreal, so impossible. He could hear Shepard’s pained groans over his open com.

“Shepard!” he exclaimed, whipping out his pistol. He froze momentarily when he saw flames lick up charred metallic skin. _A synthetic._ “Drop her, now!”

Dr. Eva subtly shifted to put Shepard between them; if he hit Dr. Eva, he would shoot Shepard in the spine at best. She put a long finger to her ear, and Kaidan could hear the bleed over from Shepard’s communicator; “Orders?”

“ _We have no more need for Shepard; and she’s more trouble than she’s worth.”_

Dr. Eva shrugged and whirled, slamming Shepard into the side of the shuttle.

 _“No!”_ Kaidan felt the broken scream leave him, but for some reason he didn’t hear it. His whole world narrowed down to the hollow sound of Shepard’s helmet cracking against the metal wall and her grunt of pain.

Eva wound up for another slam, and Kaidan lurched forward; he felt like he was running through mud, or at least wet sand. He felt hot, angry tears prick at the corner of his eyes as Shepard was slammed back a third time and dropped unceremoniously to the deck. He could hear her ragged, uneven breathing in his ear; his pistol came up automatically as Eva approached. One. Two. Three shots, and that _thing_ collapsed to the deck.

He rolled Shepard towards him, taking care to support her head and neck. All at once, memories of Eden Prime, which felt like a million years ago, filled his head as the parallel was not lost on him.

“Damnit, Shepard!” Kaidan hissed pulling her to his chest. “You’re going to make it! You hear me! You _have_ to!”

~~~

She looked… awful. Bruises dotted her pale skin, mottling her face and shoulder. Her breathing was thin and irregular at best, and the machine tracking her heartbeat was maddeningly slow. His heart felt like it was in an iron vice, a fist of cold clamping over his chest.

“Damnit, Shepard,” he whimpered, his hand fisting the thin sheet. “I’m such an idiot. This is wrong; it should have been _me._ The galaxy needs you! The great Commander Shepard! You can’t just…”

His legs gave out. He collapsed to the floor, the cold tile biting into his knees, and he didn’t care. The weight of the day’s events… it was too much. He grasped Shepard’s hand, wishing to any god that would listen that her fingers would squeeze; do _anything_ , give him any sign of life.

“Please, Alex,” he choked on his sob. “I said so many terrible things. I need you… I need to say I’m sorry. I can’t lose you again, Alex. I… I love you. I’ve always loved you. And now? Now I’ve gone and messed things up again. I should have been _me._ ”

He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, balking at how cold she was.

“Please, Alex,” he repeated, whispered. Just for her. “Please don’t leave me alone again. The thought of losing you again… I can’t. I don’t even care if you forgive me, for everything I said. I just need to see you again, baby. Just promise me you’ll open your eyes, baby. Please.”


	3. Day 3: We Are Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex Shepard-Alenko and Kaidan Alenko's first few months as new parents.

**April 2188:**

Two years before, she’d been small. She’d been so withered and tiny, she never thought she would ever be the woman she once was. Breathing was agony, and moving was so difficult she never thought she would do it again.

Now? Now she still hurt all over, and moving was more difficult than ever. Unlike two years ago, though, she was _enormous._ At one week overdue with her twins, she felt like a planet… a planet with a core who liked to punch her in the kidneys every once in a while.

Alexandra Shepard-Alenko found a comfortable spot on her sofa after 45 minutes of fidgeting; a data pad was resting on her stomach (the only place she could read anything, really). She was trying to read her Spectre reports before her meeting that evening, but her unborn children were making it rather difficult—especially when someone’s foot (she wasn’t sure whose) decided to jab upwards and knock the data pad to the floor.

“Oh come on!” Alex snapped, glaring at the pad. It would take her a solid 15 minutes—minimum—to retrieve that. She debated whether or not it was worth it, or if she should whine for her husband and deal with his doting for half an hour. “You kids better settle down in there this minute.”

“Talking to yourself again?”

Alex shot a death glare at her husband, Kaidan; “No, I’m talking to _your_ children! They’re horsing around in there and making it very difficult to do my work.”

Kaidan set his coffee on the table and settled down on the sofa next to her. He skimmed an affectionate hand across her belly; “How are they today?”

“Future Galaxy-Wide Kickboxing Champions,” Alex answered, poking at what appeared to be an elbow. “And Trampoline enthusiasts on the side, if my bladder has anything to say about it.”

“Still having contractions?” he asked, his brows crinkling with concern.

“I went to Huerta this morning, but Dr. Michel says they’re Braxton Hicks and nothing to be concerned about,” Alex pressed her knuckles to the small of her back. “I don’t even want to _know_ what real labor is going to be like.”

“You’ll be fine, Allie,” he admonished. He nudged her leg then patted his thigh. She grinned, spinning as quickly as her girth would allow, and put her feet right in his lap. She melted when he found just the right spot on her ankle; she sank deeper into the cozy throw pillows, purring with pleasure. “I just got back from the Sky Car lot, and we have one reserved until the baby comes.”

“ _Babies,_ plural,” Alex murmured, letting her grey eyes slide closed. “And thank you. Make sure you get the extra-large version.”

“Alexandra,” he sighed, running his hand up and down her calf. “I don’t suppose I can talk you out of going to tonight’s Spectre meeting?”

“Not a chance, Alenko!” she exclaimed. “I plan on working until the day these kids are out! Which was supposed to be last week—how long do you think I can morally hold it over their heads? Late teens, early 20’s?”

Kaidan rolled his eyes; “We shouldn’t hold anything over their head, technically. How about I make you some mac-and-cheese? I have pepper jack.”

“Darling, you had me at ‘cheese’.”

Kaidan gently put her feet on the couch, making his way to the kitchen. He leaned in to kiss her, pressing his hand against her twitching belly. He nuzzled her nose, allowing his lips to linger; “Have I mentioned how happy I am?”

“You could stand to repeat it,” Alex teased.

~~~

Kaidan was awoken very late that night by Alexandra’s sharp gasps of pain.

“Allie?” he came awake faster than he could process. She was sitting on the edge of their bed, doubled over and clutching her stomach. “Allie, what’s wrong?”

“I think it’s time, Kaidan,” she hissed.

“All right,” he gently eased her back to sit against the pillows. He pulled the stopwatch up on his omni tool. “Let me know when this one stops so I can time them.”

“Kaidan, this could last hours. You should get some sleep.”

“I’m calling Dr. Michel,” Kaidan blatantly ignored her, and had to feel a little swell of good humor at her appalled sputtering. He punched up Dr. Michel’s number on his omni tool. Outwardly, he was the picture of calm; inside, he was a tumultuous storm of nervous energy.

“Kaidan?” Michel answered immediately, despite it being the middle of the night. “Has Shepard gone into labor?”

Kaidan rolled his eyes; no matter how long Allie was his wife, she would always be Shepard to some; “Yes, and we think it’s for real this time.”

“I will be at Huerta within the hour. I want you to take her in as soon as her contractions are five minutes apart. Time them carefully.”

“I thought these took hours,” Kaidan pressed. “We just wanted to let you know…”

“Something tells me those babies are ready to come out,” there was a smirk in her voice, despite her lilting accent.

Shepard squeaked behind him; he dared a glance behind him; “Allie? Contraction?”

“Yeah, a big one,” she answered. She’d migrated to the edge of the bed again. “Call me crazy, but that was super close.”

“Doc, she just had another one,” Kaidan whirled back around to his omni tool. Panic was evident in his voice.

Michel must have heard it; “As I suspected. Get her to Huerta so we can monitor her, please.”

Kaidan severed the connection and fished the faded Alliance-issue duffel from their closet. He’d had it packed for weeks. Part of him felt the dissonance packing tiny clothes and soft, pink blankets into a bag that he knew for a fact had once housed an assault rifle.

He was a flurry of activity, dressing and preparing and trying not to gather Alexandra into his arms with every soft whimper of pain. He felt useless, but so excited. When everything was ready, he fetched her from the bedroom.

“You ready?” he asked, offering his arm. He levered her up off the bed; the car would be waiting outside.

Alexandra was in her faded N7 sweatshirt and a pair of knee-length workout pants. As he helped her to the door, assisting her with her sneakers, she put a firm hand on his shoulder. He was prepared for anything, but not the brilliant smile on her face.

“Kaidan, we’re going to be parents!”

“I know, sweetheart,” he nuzzled the side of her neck, hot tears cutting through the anxiety. “Now let’s go!”

~~~

Huerta was a terrifying blur. He heard words like ‘breach’ and ‘emergency surgery’ and ‘distress’, but thankfully, they weren’t forcing him away. Quite the opposite, actually. They pressed a gown and a cap into his hands, put a curtain up between him and the bottom of Allie’s body, and told him not to stand until they gave him the signal.

“Ok, Mrs. Alenko, you’re going to feel a little pinch,” one of the doctors said softly. “You want to be awake for this, correct?”

“Yes,” she whimpered. She must have been in incredible pain, but she couldn’t tear her eyes from the little monitor keeping track of their babies’ heartbeats.

Kaidan grasped her hand tightly, pressing kisses to her knuckles; “Hey. It’s going to be OK.”

She opened her mouth to answer, but all that came out was a choked sob. Her silvery eyes were glassed over with tears; he tucked her dark hair back and nuzzled his nose against hers. She sighed softly. Her eyes suddenly got a faraway quality to them and he heard the doctors set to work.

It felt like hours as they waited. Allie took deep breaths, but her hand wouldn’t stop shaking in his. They’d worked _so hard_ to have these children, and now a part of them feared it all taken away in one swoop. But then they heard it.

Their babies were crying.

“Kaidan,” Dr. Michel’s eyes crinkled beneath her surgical mask. Kaidan tried to ignore all the blood—he’d seen worse, for sure—but he couldn’t stop focusing on the small gurgling wails coming from the other side of that damnable curtain. “Would you like to cut the cord?”

Kaidan nodded mutely; Michel guided him around the bed so he wouldn’t see what the doctors were doing. He frankly didn’t want to know. He couldn’t believe it. Before there’d just been the two of them, and now two infants were shrieking up at him, thoroughly unimpressed with the real world. Michel led him through the traditional practice, and deposited a squirming bundle into his arms.

“Oh my God,” he whispered. Seeming to sense it was in its parent’s arms, the baby stopped crying and blinked up at him with sleepy grey eyes.

_Grey eyes. Just like Allie._

“Kaidan, I want to see them,” Alex whimpered from her bed.

She couldn’t sit up yet, but he was able to sit in a stool next to her head. She looked so reverent, and as she put a gentle hand against her baby’s head, happy tears streaked down her face.

“Hi, darling,” she sighed softly. “What did we have?”

Now he just felt stupid. They’d wanted to be surprised, but the kids were out now and he hadn’t even _asked;_ “Umm…”

He heard Michel chuckle softly. She deposited the other infant with its mother; “One of each, actually. Kaidan has your son, and this little angel here is your daughter.”

Allie was able to prop herself up a little, and as the surgeons finished with her, they moved her bed so she sat up. Once Michel weighed and measured them, deeming them perfectly healthy, and cleaned them up, the new parents were left to bond with their children.

“Good job, honey,” Kaidan choked around the lump in his throat. He dared take one of his arms from his son to wrap around his wife’s shoulders.”They’re perfect.”

~~~

**May 2188**

Ashley was colicky, and David liked attention. It was a bad combination for new parents.

Their apartment on the Sunset Strip was massive, but one bedroom was taken by one grandmother and the other by the other grandmother, so the new parents happily bunked their kids down in the bassinets next to their bed. Made midnight feedings all the easier.

But for some reason, the very moment they turned 30 days old, the twins started this constant barrage of hourly screaming that wore thin really _fucking_ fast. While Alex was grateful to have a loving and attentive husband and both her mother and mother-in-law, sometimes there was something only she could do. Like feed them.

David was usually quiet and would stop crying the second he came into their arms; Kaidan liked holding him while Alex desperately tried getting Ashley to calm down. Nothing they did worked. Alex was on the verge of crying herself.

_That’s it. You have some rare, neurotic baby disease that no one talked about. What did I do to deserve this? I’m the savior of the Galaxy! You’re a Reaper in disguise, coming to finish me off! That’s it!_

Alex burst into tears—a combination of guilt over being mad at her babies and sleep deprivation—missing Kaidan’s soft hand on her shoulder.

“Hey,” Kaidan said softly over Ashley’s 2am screaming fit. “I’m taking tomorrow off, ok?”

“No, Kaidan, you don’t have to,” she murmured, bouncing Ashley in her arms.

“I want to,” he insisted. “You need some sleep, or I’m pretty sure you’re going to collapse. I’ll watch the kids; besides, I want to spend time with my mom for a bit.”

Alex sighed, choosing not to argue. She leaned in to kiss him; “What would I do without you?”

“You’ll never find out,” he sighed contentedly.

~~~

**December 2188**

It was comical to see Garrus Vakarian and James Vega--two huge men who handled huge sniper rifles, massive shotguns, and terrifying assault rifles—gingerly handle her children. They were eight months old now, so well out of their ‘squishy, sit there and do nothing, ‘please support the head’’ phase. David looked like his father in almost every way, his eyes fading from the piercing blue-grey he’d been born with to a dark whiskey brown, his tuft of hair turning dark. He was currently wriggling in Uncle James’s grasp, grabbing onto his nose and squealing at James’s cries of indignation.

Ashley, on the other hand, looked like an odd hybrid of her parents. She shared her brother’s and father’s dark coloring, but had her mother’s striking features and long, dark lashes. She was staring with utter fascination at Garrus’s wiggling mandibles, her dark eyes flickering back and forth. Garrus grasped the girl in gentle hands, his color darkening at Tali’s flanged giggle.

“It’s amazing,” the Quarian sighed, lifting the mug of specially-filtered Dextro coffee to her suit, sipping carefully through the straw. “I’ve seen that man stare down a rampaging Krogan and hardly bat an eye, but give him a human infant and he’s like… well, he’s like Shepard and spiders.”

“Hey!” Alex gasped in mock indignation, slapping Tali on the shoulder. “I grew up on spaceships, ok? Spiders were… a pretty common fear.”

“I’m sure,” Liara shot, back, quirking her immaculately-groomed eyebrow at her. “Needless to say, Shepard, your children are beautiful. And thank you for inviting us.”

“Well, thanks for coming out,” Alex gently clinked her mug against Liara’s proffered wine glass. “I know Christmas is a human thing, but I still appreciate it. I wanted the whole family here.”

“Shepard, we hadn’t met your babies yet!” Tali squeaked with delight when Garrus offered her Ashley, who was as fascinated with the blinking light in her helmet as she was with the Turian’s mandibles. Tali bounced the girl on her knee, eliciting peals of sugar-sweet baby laughter.

“I really wish you guys would stop calling her Shepard,” Kaidan called as he entered the living room, two beers in hand. “I am married to her, after all.”

“You should have changed your name to Kaidan Shepard, then,” Garrus teased, stealing a drink of Tali’s coffee, ignoring her squawk of indignation.

Kaidan rolled his eyes and approached James, holding out one of the bottles; “Hey, I’ll trade you a beer for my kid.”

“Oh, twist my arm, why don’t you,” the other man rolled his eyes, gently handing David off to his father and taking the offered bottle.

Kaidan set his own bottle on the coffee table; Alex softened when she saw how Kaidan handled their children. His eyes would get soft and bright, the corners crinkling with his uninhibited smile, like he couldn’t believe how great his life was. He lifted their son to his face, blowing loud raspberries on David’s belly through his PJs; Alex couldn’t help but revel in the delighted laughter squealing out of her son.

Kaidan’s whiskey-brown eyes met hers, and she grinned, feeling the subtle flush creep across her cheeks. In the morning, her mother and Kaidan’s mother would arrive on the Citadel and the grandma Christmas would begin. But until then, she was surrounded by the people she loved most: her husband; her beautiful children; and the family she’d spent years bringing together.

She was happy to be home.


	4. Day 4: Things Have Changed For Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Routine may be comfortable, but change is what makes you grow.

In their days on the Normandy, Kaidan was up at 5:30am sharp daily, and Shepard was never far behind. Even on days when they were off duty, save emergencies, they went through the same routine. Both showered quickly, followed by him shaving and styling his regulation-length hair, while she dressed and made coffee. Then they would switch, and she’d emerge with her short, black hair neatly combed, laying flat and brushing her jaw. Then they would report for breakfast to begin the day.

She was strong and fast, he was hard and sturdy. The maintained it mostly out of necessity; they were Spartan in their day-to-day minutia. She wore no jewelry and very little make-up (if any at all). They usually just wore their BDUs, save for the few days they would go out somewhere, and even then.

Things were different now.

A few years after the Reaper war, Kaidan languished in bed, rising only when his body told him it was time, or his children began to stir. It was a Saturday, so they would be downstairs watching cartoons right now. It was nearly 10:00, and Kaidan rolled to nudge his wife.

She stretched with a quiet yawn, her steely grey eyes glittering in the morning sun. She grinned at him, pressing her full lips to his cheek; “Good morning, sunshine.”

“Morning, beautiful,” his voice was low and husky in the morning, and he loved the way she responded to him. He pressed kisses along her throat, nipping lightly, smiling brightly when she giggled. He rubbed the beginnings of his beard over her shoulder and she squealed with delight, a sound he’d never heard before the war ended.

“God, it’s so scratchy!” she admonished, rolling away from him. She sighed heavily, tossing off the blanket. “Come on. The kiddos are most likely awake by now, and I’m sure they want something to eat besides breakfast cereal.”

So their morning routine began. Kaidan grabbed a hair tie from his nightstand, sweeping his curls up into a messy knot on his head. He’d meant to get it cut a while ago, but he was at a point where he didn’t have anyone requiring him to keep it neat, and Alex liked his ‘man-bun’, as she called it. He turned towards Alex and, with quick fingers, braided her waist-length black hair. He scratched at his beard and shrugged, slipping into his soft hooded sweatshirt, before padding to the living room.

David and Ashley flung themselves from the sofa, wrapping their arms around their father. He grinned before waddling back to the couch, a four-year-old on each leg. Alex passed him with nary a glance, though the smug quirk of her lips told him she saw his plight and didn’t care.

Alex prepared French toast and bacon while Kaidan cuddled with his children. Everything had changed, from the raised scars crisscrossing their bodies to the nightmares Alex would get from spending a full two days trapped under the Crucible’s wreckage; but good changes had come with time as well. It wasn’t just languid mornings and unruly hair-lengths. It was also blissful domesticity and family meals, cuddling with their children ( _their_ children, he still couldn’t believe it) while they watched stupid cartoons. He never liked change before—routine was more comfortable.

But despite everything, he couldn’t be happier. 


End file.
